Unit door closer and latch

ABSTRACT

The unhinged edge of the door has a bolster therealong with its ends extending beyond the top and bottom door edges and provided with means for engaging elements on the header and sill of the door frame for drawing the door to closed position and latching the ends of the bolster thereto.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Keith W. Tantlinger 2,200,277 5/1940 Howie 49/368 X Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich. 2,799,900 7/1957 Gardner et a1. 49/142 [21] App]. No. 795,631 1,806,772 5/1931 Wasberg et a1. 292/218 X [22] Filed Jan. 31, 1969 2,380,782 7/1945 Owens 292/302 X [45] Patented Jam, 1972 3,099,473 7/1963 Pastva,Jr. 292/218 X [73] Assignee Fruehauf Corporation 3,252,254 5/1966 Madland et a1. 292/40 X Detroit, Mich. 3,484,127 12/1969 Pastva 292/218 FOREIGN PATENTS 54 L T l 9 l 2 Great Britain l l 9 Clims 8 Drawing Figs- A Austria 52 0.5. CI 2 217 Examimpmchm 1 5 8 Attorney-Harness, Dickey & Pierce [5 1 Int. Cl E05c 7/02 0 Search The unhin ged edge of the door has a bolster 30] 49/142 therealong with its ends extending beyond the top and bottom 371 door edges and provided with means for engaging elements on [56] References cued the header and si11 of the door frame for drawing the door to UNITED STATES PATENTS c1osed position and latching the ends of the bolster thereto.

1,711,513 5/1929 Winder 49/395 X g JZ r 2 1?? I n 1 .q I I o l' s/ j! l 7 3 I l O 1 f7 1? I 1 2 1- 1 J 41 l Fr r A; f"; l 71] I Q 1" y I o 01! 0 47 a 1 i j e 0 TIL /.7 E Ii 1 /7 H 11 fl O a PATENTED JAM 1 I972 SHEET 3 [IF 3 IIIIIIII/IIIlj/l key: r

UNIT DOOR CLOSER AND LATCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Reference may be had to US. Pats. Nos. l,952,l l2, and 2,861,830, for the closest known art over which the present invention is an improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the door closer and latch mechanism is illustrated as being applied to the unhinged edges of a pair of doors which close the rear end of a cargo container. The structure embodies a heavy channel element which extends along the unhinged edge of the door and with the end sections extending therebeyond in position to engage the header as well as the sill of the container body frame. The header and sill have recessed castings provided with outwardly extending truncated conical lugs with an annular slot near the outer end. The extending ends of the channel element have a ring with a tapered opening which extends over the conical lug and accurately centers the rings and positions the channel element. A vertical bar within the channel element has cutout portions, one forming a Y-shaped recess at one end and a keyhole slot adjacent to the other end. When the bar is moved upwardly, the edges of the cutout portions engage the annular slots in the lugs and securely lock the bar, channel element and door thereto.

At the hinge side of the channel element a rotatable sleeve is provided having arcuate cam elements at each end aligned with the recess in the castings of the sill and header. When the door is near closed position, the arcuate cam elements will engage a boss when the sleeve is rotated and draw the door into closed arcuately located position through the engagement of therings with the lugs. The rotation of the sleeve is produced by a hand lever hinged thereto which, when the door is in closed position, substantially engages the outer door surface. An L-shaped lever pivoted to the door has lugs extending outwardly thereof and located on each side of the lever so that when the hand lever is pivoted downwardly after the door is closed, the bar within the channel element will be moved upwardly to have the walls of the cutout portions move into the annular slot of the lugs and thereby firmly lock the unhinged edges of the doors to the top and bottom sills. This prevents the racking of the doors as well as the bulging thereof when subjected to the load of the cargo since the heavy channel elements at the unhinged door are firmly locked to the header and the sill.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a broken view in elevation, with parts in section, of a pair of doors locked to the frame of a container embodying features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 33 thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged broken view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 5-5 thereof;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 6-6 thereof;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 7-7 thereof, and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 8--8 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A pair of doors 11 and 12 are illustrated in FIG. 1, as being hinged to the rear frame of the trailer having a header 13, a sill 14, joined by side members 15 and 16. The doors 11 and 12 are of substantially the same construction except for being of the left hand and right hand. Reference will be made hereinafter to the left-hand door in describing the features of the present invention. The door is illustrated as having a plurality of hinges 17. On the door herein illustrated, three of the hinges are employed, the central hinge not being illustrated in FIG. 1. A channel 18 at the edge of the door is cut away at 19 for the reception of the hinges and plates 21 are welded at the edges in the cutout portion for receiving pins 22 on which the hinges are pivoted. The door is constructed from a wood panel having metal inner and outer faces to which a channel element 23 having the hinges l7 thereon, is secured by bolts 24.

A bolster in the nature of a channel element 25 has flanges 26 and 27 thereon secured adjacent to the unhinged edge of the door by bolts 24. An upper end 28 of the channel 25 has the flanges 26 and 27 removed therefrom and this is also true of a bottom end 29 of the channel element. The upper end 28 extends within the header 13 while the bottom end 29 extends within the sill 14, above and below the opening for the door. The face of the header l3 and sill 14 has an aperture 31 cut therein for the reception of a casting 32 which abuts a rear wall 33 and is welded in position through apertures 34 therein. The casting has a truncated conical lug 35 extending forwardly of the outer sill and header face.

The extending ends 28 and 29 of the channel element 25 are reinforced by a channel element 36 which has an aperture 37 therein in which a ring 38 is welded. The ring 38 has an internal truncated conical surface which mates with the conical surface of the lug 35 when the door is in closed position. The channel elements 36 form a guide for locking plates 41 which moves upwardly and downwardly therein. The plate 41 at the top has a truncated keyhole slot 42 while the bottom plate 41 has a keyhole slot 43 therein. The plates 41 are interconnected by a bar 44 so that they can be moved upwardly or downwardly simultaneously. When the plates 41 and bar 44 are in down position, the large opening of the slots 43 in the plates will permit the lug 35 to pass therethrough. When the door is tightly closed, the edges of the slots are aligned with an annular recess at the outer end of the lugs. When the plates 41 are moved upwardly the narrow section 45 of the slots move into the annular recess 40 in the lugs and thereby secure the channel element 25 in fixed relation to the header and sill. This retains the abutted door edges against outward movement relative to the rear frame of the container and prevents the doors from bulging.

To operate the bar 44 and to draw the doors tightly against the face of the header and sill, a cylindrical tube 51 is mounted along the channel element 25 toward the hinged side of the door. A cylindrical lug 52 is secured to a top plate at the upper end of the channel element 25 and projects downwardly to receive the upper end of the tube 51. The lower end of the tube 51 has a sleeve 53 secured therein by a pin 54. The sleeve 53 extends within an aperture in a bottom plate 55 which is welded across the bottom end 29 of the channel element 25. The tube 51 rests upon the plate 55 and rotates thereon when retained in position by the lug 52 and the sleeve 53. Two end brackets 56 of arcuate shape have projecting fingers 57 which extend within slots 58 in the channel element 25. A flange 59 on the brackets is secured to a shim 61 and the flange 27 by bolts 62. Centrally of the door, a similar pair of brackets 63 having fingers 57 thereon extending in slots 58 in the channel element 25 are secured to the door by a single bolt 62 which extends through a shim 61 and the flange 27. The brackets 56 and 63 form apertures in which the tube 51 rotates to prevent the bowing of the midsection thereof.

Between the lower brackets 56 and 63, a U-shaped element 64 is welded to the tube 51 between the walls of which an operating lever 65 has the forward end pivoted on a bolt 66. When the lever 65 is in its down position, as illustrated more specifically in FIG. 7, the midsection thereof rests within a channel formed by a struckout portion 67 of a plate 68 which is secured by bolts 69 to the face of the door. The struckout portion 67 is of Z shape having an extending lip 70 containing an aperture 71. The upper bolt 69 has a sleeve 72 thereon on which a strap 73 is pivotally mounted. The strap has an extending section 74 containing an aperture 75 which when swung downwardly is aligned with the aperture 71 for the reception of a locking or other securing means for preventing the lever 65 from being actuated. A finger 76 is bent outwardly from the top of the plate 68 for limiting the clockwise swinging movement of-the strap 73.

The upper and lower ends of the tube 51 have an arcuate camming finger 77 welded thereto in position to extend within the hollow interior 78 of the casting 32 in engagement with a projecting edge 79 when the door approaches closed position. The fingers 77 draw the door into closed position in which it is accurately located by the engagement of the truncated conical inner surface of the rings 38 with the truncated conical surface of the lugs 35. When in this position, the operating lever 65 is adjacent to the outer face of the door in a position to be moved downwardly into the channel formed by the struckout portion 67 of the plate 68.

An L-shaped lever 81 has one end extending within the channel element 25 and provided with an elongated slot 82 which receives a pin 83 which extends through and is welded to the bar 44, as illustrated in FIG. 6. A pair of blocks 84 are welded to the inner face of the channel element 25 above and below the pin 83 for locating the bar 44 centrally thereof. The lever 81 is pivoted on a sleeve 85 on a bolt 86 extending through the door. The upwardly extending end 87 of the lever 81 has U-shaped projecting elements 88 thereon which are engageable with opposite edges of the operating lever 65. When the lever 65 is raised,the L-shaped lever 81 is moved counterclockwise to lower the bar 44 and release the lugs 35 from the plates 41. The outward movement of the lever 65 rotates the tube 51 and releases the fingers 77 from the casting to permit the doors to be opened. When the doors are moved into substantially closed position, the lever 65 is moved toward the door surface to engage the fingers with the edges 69 of the castings 32 to move the doors to closed position with the rings 38 engaged with the lugs 35. Upon the downward movement of the lever 65, the L-shaped lever 81 is moved clockwise to raise the bar 44 and move the narrow portion of the slots in the plates 41 intothe annular recesses 40 in the lugs 35. In this manner, the operating levers 65 will actuate the cam fingers 77 for drawing the doors into tight located position and through the movement of the lever downwardly will engage the narrow portion of the slots in the plates 41 into firm locked engagement with the recesses 40 in the lugs 35. This secures the'ends of the channel elements 25 directly to the header and sill of the rear frame of the container. Thereafter, the swinging of the straps 73 downwardly aligns the apertures 73 and 75 of the struckout portion 67 and strap 73 to permit a lock or other securing means to be applied thereto for preventing the unauthorized actuation of the lever 65 and the opening of the doors. All of the racking and load forces on the doors is taken by the header and sill through the channel elements 25 which function as bolsters across the door and center of the door opening to strengthen the container at the open end.

It is to be understood that on certain types of containers and trailer bodies, the lugs 35, locking bar 44 and lever 81 are omitted and that the cam fingers 67 are relied upon to close and secure the door in latched position. It is further to be understood that a plurality of the channel elements 25 may be applied to the door with the ends extending above and below thereof to be anchored to the header and sill, as herein illustrated and described, to further strengthen and secure the door or doors in closed position.

I claim:

I. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door, a channel-shaped brace member on said door adjacent to the unhinged edge thereof and of a length to extend a substantial distance above and below the top and bottom door edges, hinge means securing said door to the side elements of a frame having a header and a sill located above and below the door opening, a rotatable element secured to the door adjacent to said channel-shaped brace member, a cam finger on each end of the rotatable element, means for rotating said element,

means on the header and sill engageable by said cam fingers when the door is substantially closed and said element is rotated for securing the door in closed position to said header and sill and the ends of the on the engageable means on said header and sill which extends into the ends of the channelshaped brace member when the door is in closed position, and

means within the channel-shaped brace member for engaging said projections and providing further locking means for securing the door in closed position.

2. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim I, wherein said projections are lugs having an annular recess adjacent to the outer end, and wherein said lug securing means is an elongated member having slots therein through which the end of the lugs pass to align the slots with the annular recesses, and means for moving said elongated member to have the wall of the slot pass into and out of the annular recess in the lugs.

3. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 2, wherein a lever on said rotatable element actuates said rotatable element to close said door near the end of its closing movement and thereafter to move said elongated member into securing engagement with said lugs.

4. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 2, wherein a pair of rightand left-hand doors are pivoted to the side elements of the frame and retained within the door opening each by a separate said securing means.

5. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 4, wherein each said pair of doors has a channel element located adjacent to the center of the opening when the doors are in closed position and the closing and securing means thereon to position to the ends of the channel elements on the lugs of the header and sill to strengthen the door edges at the center of the door opening.

6. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 2, wherein the ends of said channel element has, a truncated conical aperture therein, and wherein said lugs are of truncated conical form to mate with the apertures in said ends for accurately positioning said channel element relative to said header and sill when the door is in closed position.

7. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 2, wherein a first lever is pivoted to said rotatable element for vertical swinging movement and for angular movement toward and away from the door, a second lever is pivoted to said door in engagement with said elongated member, and means interconnecting said levers when the door is in closed position to permit the vertical movement of said first lever to operate said second lever which moves said elon-.

gated member into locking engagement with or unlocking disengagement from said lugs.

8. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door, a channel element fixedly secured to the outer face of the door adjacent to the unhinged edge and of a length to extend a substantial distance above and below the top and bottom edges of the door, hinged means securing said door to the side element of a frame having a header and a sill located above and below the door opening, an engageable element on the header and sill, latching means for securing the extending ends of the channel element to said engageable elements on said header and sill for retaining the door in closed position and bracing the unhinged edge of the door across the door opening from said header and sill, means on said latching means for moving it to locking and unlocking positions, a rotatable element mounted adjacent to the channel element, a cam finger on the opposite ends of said rotatable element, and means on said header and sill engageable by said cam fingers for drawing said door from near closed position to closed position and for locking the door thereat when the rotatable element is rotated.

9. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 8, wherein said means on said locking means is a lever attached to said rotatable element, and securing means on said door engaged by said lever when the door is in closed position for locking said lever and securing said door in closed position.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CGRRECTEON 3,633, 954 Dated January 11, 1972 Patent No.

Inventor(s) W. Tantlinger It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below: Claim 1, column 4, line 4 after "of the" insert --channe1 shaped brace member in engagement therewith, a projection-. Claim 5, column 4, line 5 after "position" delete "to" Signed and sealed this 30th day of May 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

ROBERT GOTTSCHALK EDWARD MQFLETCHERJR. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC GOBYG-PGD *JLS. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I9. 0-365-334 FORM Po-1os0 (10-69) V 

1. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door, a channel-shaped brace member on said door adjacent to the unhinged edge thereof and of a length to extend a substantial distance above and below the top and bottom door edges, hinge means securing said door to the side elements of a frame having a header and a sill located above and below the door opening, a rotatable element secured to the door adjacent to said channelshaped brace member, a cam finger on each end of the rotatable element, means for rotating said element, means on the header and sill engageable by said cam fingers when the door is substantially closed and said element is rotated for securing the door in closed position to said header and sill and the ends of the on the engageable means on said header and sill which extends into the ends of the channel-shaped brace member when the door is in closed position, and means within the channel-shaped brace member for engaging said projections and providing further locking means for securing the door in closed position.
 2. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 1, wherein said projections are lugs having an annular recess adjacent to the outer end, and wherein said lug securing means is an elongated member having slots therein through which the end of the lugs pass to align the slots with the annular recesses, and means for moving said elongated member to have the wall of the slot pass into and out of the annular recess in the lugs.
 3. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 2, wherein a lever on said rotatable element actuates said rotatable element to close said door near the end of its closing movement and thereafter to move said elongated member into securing engagement with said lugs.
 4. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 2, wherein a pair of right- and left-hand doors are pivoted to the side elements of the frame and retained within the door opening each by a separate said securing means.
 5. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 4, wherein each said pair of doors has a channel element located adjacent to the center of the opening when the doors are in closed position and the closing and securing means thereon to position to the ends of the channel elements on the lugs of the header and sill to strengthen the door edges at the center of the door opening.
 6. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 2, wherein the ends of said channel element has, a truncated conical aperture therein, and wherein said lugs are of truncated conical form to mate with the apertures in said ends for accurately positioning said channel element relative to said header and sill when the door is in closed position.
 7. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 2, wherein a first lever is pivoted to said rotatable element for vertical swinging movement and for angular movement toward and away from the door, a second lever is pivoted to said door in engagement with said elongated member, and means interconnecting said levers when the door is in closed position to permit the vertical movement of said first lever to operate said second lever which moves said elongated member into locking engagement with or unlocking disengagement from said lugs.
 8. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door, a channel element fixedly secured to the outer face of the door adjacent to the unhinged edge and of a length to extend a substantial distance above and below the top and bottom edges of the door, hinged means securing said door to the side element of a frame having a header and a sill located above and below the door opening, an engageable element on the header and sill, latching means for securing the extending ends of the channel element to said engageable elements on said header and sill for retaining the door in closed position and bracing the unhinged edge of the door across the door opening from said header and sill, means on said latching means for moving it to locking and unlocking positions, a rotatable element mounted adjacent to the channel element, a cam finger on the opposite ends of said rotatable element, and means on said header and sill engageable by said cam fingers for drawing said door from near closed position to closed position and for locking the door thereat when the rotatable element is rotated.
 9. In a reinforcing and latching means for a hinged door as recited in claim 8, wherein said means on said locking means is a lever attached to said rotatable element, and securing means on said door engaged by said lever when the door is in closed position for locking said lever and securing said door in closed position. 